Ken Foote Remembers ‘Captain’ Daryl Dragon

For those of you who may not have been born by the time the 1970s arrived, he and his wife, Toni Tennille, were one of the most successful pop music duos of that decade.

Dragon, a classically trained pianist and son of concert conductor Carmen Dragon, was the keyboarded for him and Tennille. He had worked with The Beach Boys as well in a similar capacity and got the nickname, “Captain” from Beach Boy Mike Love. He and Tennille met in 1971 when she hired him to play piano for a musical, “Mother Earth.”

‘Captain’ Daryl Dragon and his wife Toni Tennille of the music duo The Captain and Tennille, pose at the Video Software Dealers Association’s annual home video convention at the Bellagio July 27, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

They married in 1975 for 39 years until their divorce in 2014, yet they remained close friends right until he died. They also had a musical variety show on the ABC Television Network during the 1976-1977 season, Mondays 7-8pm. When they performed, he typically just played the keyboard and said nothing! Toni did most of the singing and talking!

They charted nine times on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1975-1979. Six of the nine songs were in the Top 10 with two #1 songs: “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Do That Do Me One More Time,” their first and last songs to chart, respectively.

The song in today’s blog is “Shop Around.” Prior to their version of the song in 1976, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles performed it in 1960, their first song to chart on Billboard, and it hit #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B charts. The Captain & Tennille’s version hit #4 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

Written by Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson and running 3:32, the lyrics go like this:

When I became of age my mother called me to her side,She said, “Son, you’re growing up now pretty soon you’ll take a bride”

And then she said, “Just because you’ve become a young man now,There’s still somethings that you don’t understand now,Before you ask some girl for her hand nowKeep your freedom for as long as you can now.”